Wood shavings are generally thin pieces of wood that are cut from a piece of lumber. Wood shavings are used for a variety of different applications. A main application is for animal care, such as for bedding material for horses, livestock, poultry, and other outdoor animals. The wood shavings have excellent absorbency properties and take up moisture quickly and dry quickly. Further, the shavings are soft and comfortable for the animals. Although animal care is a primary use, shavings are also used for other applications.
The wood shavings are generally cut from an elongated piece of lumber. The lumber may include logs that have been de-branched. The lumber pieces may have various diameters depending upon the size of the trees and the capacity of the cutting equipment. The lumber may also include various waste wood such as scrap boards.
The manufacturing process for producing the shavings includes moving a cutter along the elongated lumber pieces and cutting off the shavings. The cutter may be equipped to move in a reciprocating (i.e., back-and-forth) manner along the lumber. The cutter cuts a predetermined amount from the pieces while moving back and forth in a reciprocating manner. The amount of wood shavings cut from the lumber during a pass will vary depending upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to the type of lumber such as the hardness of the wood, speed and/or power of the cutter, and desired size of the wood shavings.
An issue that arises during the manufacturing process is maintaining the lumber stationary relative to the moving cutter. As the cutter is moving along the lumber during the cutting process, the lumber may move in the same direction as the cutter. This movement of the lumber with the cutter may prevent the entire length of the lumber from being cut. After several reciprocating passes, one or more sections of the lumber that has repeatedly not been cut may act as a block. This may prevent the cutter from making contact with the lumber during subsequent passes.